For after waking yesterday in Sydney with his fight future unknown, Whittaker not only finished his day with the middleweight strap — and a slice of Australian sports history — but a blockbuster first defence announced for home soil.

As revealed online by The Daily Telegraph, Whittaker will headline UFC 221 in Perth next February against American Luke Rockhold.

Better, he will not fight for the championship but defend it, following the shock decision by Canadian megastar Georges St-Pierre to vacate for health reasons.

And all of this, incredibly, without anyone throwing a punch.

Instead, Whittaker and his team were driving south towards a Mt Buller fight camp, and three gruelling days of altitude training, when the news broke.

“But his reception was so bad,” Day revealed.

“I had to ring back an hour later and confirm again.

“Say, congratulations Rob, you’re the middleweight champion of the world”.

And with that, Whittaker was off up a mountain.

Unlikely to do any interviews, his manager said, until all three days of “hardcore altitude work” are done.

Which only adds to the bizarreness of the yarn.

Canadian UFC fighter George St. Pierre has vacated his title. Picture: Richard DobsonSource:News Corp Australia

One beginning early Friday morning, Australian time, when GSP announced that, despite his success at UFC 217, there would be no defence against No. 1 contender Whittaker.

Only last month, the Aussie had sat front row inside Madison Square Garden as St-Pierre, competing for the first time in four years, dramatically claimed the middleweight strap by choking out English champ Michael Bisping.

Since then, however, the Canadian great has revealed he is battling colitis, an illness which may be tied to returning heavier than his usual division of welterweight.

And so yesterday, he stepped aside.

A move which saw Whittaker, himself the interim champion thanks to a devastating run of eight consecutive wins, crowned king.

Better, the Sydney father-of-two has also been catapulted into a huge first title defence against Rockhold on February 11, which will double as the UFC’s first showing in Western Australia.

On a huge day for the Australian fight game, UFC officials also released a press statement confirming Sydney heavyweight Mark Hunt is free to fight at UFC 221.

The popular slugger had been sidelined since October, following the publication of a controversial website interview where he admitted to slurring his words, struggling to sleep and forgetting things that had occurred only 24 hours earlier.

On Tuesday, however, Hunt’s manager Zen Ginnen confirmed specialists had declared the heavyweight fit to fight.

And yesterday, the UFC released a statement of confirmation, saying: “After a full medical analysis at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, the UFC confirms that heavyweight athlete Mark Hunt has been cleared to compete.”